The most notable difference between the early history of Dutch New Amsterdam and that of English settlements such as Jamestown and the colonies of New England are the reason these settlements were founded. Jamestown was founded for many reasons, such as finding gold and silver, harvesting natural resources, finding passage to the Pacific Ocean, and to trade with Native Americans (Horn, 2005). Later on, they had the goals of manufacturing goods and converting the native Powhatans to Christianity (Horn, 2005). New English colonies expected some economic profit, but the main reason they were founded was religion (Burnett et al., 2018). Puritans sought to create a utopian “City on a Hill”, which would be an example for the English to follow (Burnett et al., 2018).

Meanwhile, New Amsterdam was founded for one simple reason: profit (Burns and Sanders, 1999). It was owned by the powerful Dutch West India Company, and money was to be made selling furs (Burns and Sanders, 1999). New Amsterdam would lack a church for seventeen years (Burns and Sanders, 1999), a fact that would likely startle the Puritans of New England or the settlers of Jamestown. In fact, when the town became more diverse under the rule of Peter Stuyvesant, he tried to petition the board of directors of the Dutch West India Company to turn away Jewish refugees, only to be rejected (Burns and Sanders, 1999). The directors reminded him New Amsterdam was a business colony, not a religious establishment (Burns and Sanders, 1999).